Shame on me if you fool me twice
by arualms
Summary: My attempt to make sense of Ryan's apparently easy acceptance of Frank as Julies boyfriend. A peek into his mind during The Case of the Franks. Oneshot.


AN: There is just no way that the real Ryan would be happy about the idea of is father, who used to be a violent criminal that beat up his kids and wife and only months ago had no problem lying to everyone, dating the mother of his deceased ex-girlfriend. So, this is my attempt at making some sense of the behaviour that the stupid writers apparently though nothing was wrong with.

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.

**Shame on me if you fool me twice**

Afterwards, he felt guilty. Even though he was still convinced that in the long run, he had done the right thing, he couldn't ignore the fact that before it was over, Frank was going to hurt Julie. And despite the absolute certainty that this would have happened either way, he still had to fight down the ever-present shame at seemingly having become the man's accomplice.

Still, it was preferable to what might have happened otherwise.

At first, Ryan had still been hoping that maybe, just maybe, Frank would respect the fact that he was not wanted in Newport and leave. That hope had been lost the moment he realized what his father had been up to over the past months.

Then, for a short time, he had indulged in the fantasy that Julie might be smart enough to get herself out of the danger zone on her own.

One talk with the woman later, and he had remembered how good Frank had always been at talking. It was a gift he hadn't passed on to Ryan, the seemingly effortless ease with which he got Dawn to forgive him time and time again; the skilled lying which convinced the social-workers that his sons had been rough-housing and unfortunately allowed things to get out of hand; the nonchalant charming that got him into the beds of countless other women.

Obviously, the man had not forgotten how to make use of his talents while he had been locked away. After all, not everyone managed to use jail-time to befriend a millionaire.

And Frank had apparently realised what an easy target Julie was. The reformed sinner had to be appealing to a woman who regretted nothing more than the fact that her own efforts at reforming had not been enough to save her daughter's live. Throw in the supposed need to make his past sins up to his son, and Ryan could see why the woman was desperate to believe that people, that his father, could change.

Part of him wished he was naïve enough to believe it himself.

But he wasn't, and listening to Julie trying to convince him that Frank was actually a good man, he had been hit by an onslaught of memories. Dawn had always felt the need to justify taking Frank back in. Trey hadn't been very keen on listening.

Ryan still remembered one particular incident. He had been about six, listening in on Trey yelling at Dawn while lying in bed (Trey had heard that you weren't supposed to be running around with a concussion, and the fact that the feeling of a sledgehammer repeatedly pounding against his head had abated slightly had convinced Ryan that his big brother had probably had a good idea). Dawn had started out pleading with Trey to realize that their father was a good man and loved his family, that the only reason he had shoved Ryan down the stairs was because he had been so frustrated about getting laid of, that it wouldn't happen again. Trey had scoffed and reminded Dawn how often this promise had been made before. Not taking his disagreement well, the woman had lost her temper and soon both of them could be heard shouting loudly, Trey insisting that if Dawn really loved her kids the way she claimed to do whenever she wanted them to forget about the previous nights drunken hate-tirades, she wouldn't allow their father back in, wouldn't allow him anywhere near them; demanding to know if she had even looked at Ryan's bruises?

There had been other arguments of course, before and after Chino, about Frank, Mark, Julio, Lukas and countless other men whose names Ryan had no recollection of. What had stayed the same, what Ryan had learned from all of it, was that there was no convincing someone who was desperate to believe. And Julie, no matter how well she might be hiding it, was desperate.

It had felt like a punch to his gut, the realization that yet another Atwood-man had managed to catch a Cooper-woman unaware. The nauseating feeling of helplessness had been overwhelming for a moment, but then he had managed to pull himself together.

He had not been able to protect Marissa from Trey (and the memory still caused his hands to tremble with repressed fury, his heart to beat faster with an overwhelming need to find his brother and punish him for everything he had done, everything that had followed his attempt to hurt a woman the way they had once sworn they would never do, after spending hours trying to calm down a hysterically sobbing Dawn). No matter how much he regretted it, his attempts at making the people he cared about realize that Trey was bad news had fallen on deaf ears and in the end, part of him had actually wanted to believe what Seth and Marissa had insisted was the truth. And then Marissa had gotten hurt because of it.

He would not make the same mistake again. He knew that it would be impossible to convince Julie that her perception of Frank was mistaken. And trying to do it would only cause the woman to distance herself. If he wanted to be able to protect her and Kaitlin, Ryan couldn't risk that. And angering Frank by openly refusing to accept his "reformation" would only make him furious. Since Ryan lived with the Cohens, who knew where the man would find an outlet for that anger?

No, open adversity was not the way to deal with this situation. If Ryan wanted to have any chance of keeping Marissa's family safe, at least as safe as it was possible with Frank around, than he needed Julie to trust him and Frank to not suspect him.

So he had given in, had actually helped his scheming girlfriend to push Julie and Frank together, reminding himself all the time that sooner or later, Julie would have obviously chosen the man no matter what and this way, he might hopefully be able to gain his father's trust, might be close enough when whatever would eventually happen came to pass to avoid the worst.

He would try to be around as much as possible (at least Taylor living with Julie gave him an easy excuse for that, even if the fact that it meant she would also be spending time with his father was sure to give him nightmares) and he'd try to figure out what Frank wanted from Julie. Not that, as far as Ryan remembered from Trey's colourful tales, the man had ever had any qualms about using women for sex, but this was obviously about more than that. Frank could have found a willing woman for that everywhere, but instead he had stayed in Newport and started a relationship with Julie. Kirsten's best friend Julie; the mother of Ryan's dead ex-girlfriend Julie; Julie who was one of the few adults who were a regular part of Ryan's life.

Since Kirsten and Sandy were happily married (Ryan refused to think about what the new baby signified regarding how happy their marriage was), making sure that Kirsten would not be an option (a fact for which Ryan was more thankful than could possibly be put into words) and everyone else who was a permanent part of Ryan's life was too young, Julie was probably the closest connection to him that Frank could have found.

Ryan hadn't forgotten how important it had seemed to his father to re-establish contact with him, how the man had convinced Kirsten to talk him into giving him a chance (and he had asked himself how the man had known about Caleb's death and the regrets Kirsten still had, because he had obviously known just which buttons to push). He definitely still remembered the barely concealed rage in his father's eyes when Sandy had told Ryan the truth (which really shouldn't have been necessary, but Ryan apparently wasn't completely immune to Frank's manipulations either). The rush of fear at the realization that his father might hurt Sandy, might injure the man who had gotten him out of Chino, given him a chance and a home and a new family and had been more of a father to Ryan than Frank ever had; this overwhelming dread was still vivid in his memories.

If he was honest with himself, Ryan had known then that it wasn't over, that the man would not simply leave and let Ryan be happy with his new family. He had deluded himself for a few weeks, but when he realized that Frank was far from out of the picture, he had not really been surprised.

So he knew that the man wanted something, knew that he would have no qualms about using Julie to get it, and that unfortunately, Ryan wouldn't be able to make the woman realize all this.

Not knowing what else to do, he had played along, pretended that the thought of Marissa's family and his girlfriend left alone with his father wouldn't keep him awake at night. He would simply have to figure out what Frank wanted before anyone got hurt. It was the only way to deal with this that he could see.

But he still felt guilty.

_Feedback is my drug of choice. And it's not even bad for my health!_


End file.
